With a backdrop decorated in hand-painted cherry blossoms and Chinese architecture, paper nightingales hanging from the ceiling and incense burning on stage, the Community Folk Art Center Black Box Theater performed their production of “Los Dos Ruisenores: The Two Nightingales.”

Originally a Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale, the play was directed and adapted by Jose Miguel Hernandez Hurtado in honor of National Hispanic Heritage Month. The production had three performances Sept. 13-15 at the Black Box, which seats a cozy 115 and is located within the Community Folk Art Center. The art center is a unit of the African-American studies department of Syracuse University, and also hosts an art gallery, screening room and dance studio.

Before the show, audience members had the opportunity to view the current art exhibition at the CFAC, “Philippe Dodard: The Idea of Modernity in Haitian Contemporary Art,” which is on display now through Dec. 7.

“The CFAC does a great job of bringing cultural awareness to our area in many different forms. Whether it be dancing, singing or the beautiful art gallery, there’s always worthwhile things going on,” said Catherine Nock, a Spanish instructor at SU.

“The Two Nightingales” tells the story of an emperor who favors the robotic chirping of a man-made, diamond encrusted nightingale over that of a real nightingale, which sings for the kingdom. The emperor then falls ill, and can only be saved by the song of the real nightingale.

Director Jose Miguel Hernandez Hurtado introduced the play in English and Spanish — the play itself is performed in Spanish. He then thanked the many people involved in the production, including the El Punto Art Studio that designed the production’s sets, and the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, who helped ensure accuracy of the nightingale sound effects throughout the production.

As the show’s director, Hurtado worked to combine his message of personal freedom and expression to audiences, while capturing a sense of the magic that is felt in the original tale.

“It was important for our production to have an atmosphere of fantasy, and I pushed the actors, especially the adults, to embrace the fantasy,” Hurtado said.

After the show, many audience members stayed to discuss the production and the art exhibit with one another.

“It’s a wonderful cultural center for our campus. Going to a larger theater is always an excellent experience, but this smaller space offers a much more intimate connection with the performance and other audience members,” Nock said after attending the performance.

Actors wore vibrant Chinese clothing, and the nightingale costumes included handcrafted, multicolored feathers and jewels. The play involved actors of all ages and cultures, including international students from China.

This diverse atmosphere of the production drew Maggie Rivera, student involvement coordinator at State University of New York Oswego, to bring a group of international students from China and Brazil to see the show.

“Blackbox is such a multicultural place, we thought it would be fitting to bring our international students here where they can build friendships and community,” Rivera said.

Hurtado chose the CFAC for his play not only because of its great location in the heart of the Connective Corridor, but also because of its atmosphere of multicultural art and expression.

For Hurtado, it was important that the audience left the performance with a sense of respect for nature and personal freedom, just as the emperor discovers in the play.

Said Hurtado: “I encourage everyone, not just the people in the audience, to live life as a bird with freedom.”

Published on September 16, 2013 at 1:33 am

Contact Lydia: lawilson@syr.edu